Courses in History
(Division 390)

100-Level Courses are Survey Courses and Introductory Courses
for Freshmen and Sophomores

110. Medieval, Renaissance, and Reformation Europe.
(3). (SS).

How and why did Europe become so powerful? Why did it differ
from its neighbors? With lectures, slides, and discussion based
on original sources (biography, fiction, art, and doodles), this
course addresses these questions. We will focus on one or two
decisive events (such as the vision and conversion of Constantine, the execution of Joan of Arc, the first printing of a book, and Galileo's discovery of Neptune) per week and work from them to
outline general processes and causes in Europe's history from
300 to 1700. This is a course about some famous events but even
more about a few lesser-known, but more profound, developments
in our past. Grades will be based upon class participation, performance
on a weekly quiz, and the final examination. (Lindner)

160. United States to 1865. (3). (SS).

A survey of early American history from the period of initial
colonization through the Civil War. The course will be organized
around the interactions of the three dominant cultures which came
together in early America: Native American, European, and Africa.
We will explore the internal dynamics of each culture (family
life, religious beliefs, political system, labor arrangements, gender roles) and how the clash of cultures shaped the experience
of Americans in the colonial and national periods. Specific topics
will include the problems of forming communities in an alien environment, the transition to slave labor and the origins of an African-American
society, the American Revolution and the creation of the republic, the emergence of sectionalism, and the impact of early industrialism.
Students will attend two lectures each week, and read a series
of monographs and primary documents. A short paper and a final
exam are required. Cost:4 WL:4 (Juster)

300-Level Courses and Above are for Juniors and Seniors

366. Twentieth-Century American Wars as Social and Personal Experience. (3). (HU).

The wars of this century have been important experiences both
for American society and for millions of individual Americans.
This course examines those wars through literature, histories, films, lectures, and discussions in order to find patterns of
change: changes in how America fights wars and changes in the
society that results from them. It also examines changes in the
personal perceptions of the experience of war: perceptions not
only of the combat soldiers but also of the many others affected
by wars. Among the readings are Gray, The Warriors, March, Company K, Hanley, Writing War, and O'Brien, The Things They Carried. There will be pop quizzes, a
midterm, and a final exam. Cost:3 WL:1 (Collier)

368/Amer. Cult. 342/WS 360. History of the Family in the U.S. (3). (SS).

397. History Colloquium. History concentrators
are required to elect Hist. 396 or 397. Only 12 credits of History
394, 395, 396, 397, 398, and 399 may be counted toward a concentration
plan in history. (3). (HU). May be elected for a total of 12 credits.
Section 101 – History of the Irish in America. This colloquium
will consider the history of the experience of the Irish people
in the United States. We will begin by surveying the existent
literature on this subject and by developing from readings in
several sources a knowledge of the main features of that history
as presently construed together with some topics for exploration
by members of the colloquium. The work of the course will be carried
on by means of presentation in colloquium of written work on particular
topics; an extended term paper will be the final project. There
are no examinations. Regular attendance at and full participation
in the meetings of the colloquium is, therefore, an essential
condition for the course. (McNamara)

A course number in the 500s does not
indicate a more difficult or advanced course than one in the 400s.

517. History of Ireland Since 1603. (3).
(HU).

A narrative history of modern Ireland from the time of the
collapse of Gaelic culture at the Tudor conquest until the present.
Lectures will treat aspects of cultural and social as well as
political history. The main texts will be Moody and Martin, The
Course of Irish History, and R.F. Foster, Modern Ireland, 1600-1972. Course work will include a sequence of periodic
brief quizzes, one term paper, a final examination. There is no
course prerequisite and no prior knowledge of Ireland is required.
Cost:2 WL:4 (McNamara)